Happy Weekend (on a Monday)!

Happy Weekend...on a Monday!  Yeah...so I did the following THREE short videos last week and uploaded them to YouTube but didn't blog about them yet...sorry about that!

In this first video you will get to see some LOCAL strawberries!  YAY!  A few quick ideas and tips to getting your friends, family members, and co-workers to eat more fruits and veggies!  I also give you a heads-up on a walk thru the park in this next video...

This 2nd video is about a pollinator garden at a local park nearby and taking a look at some of the flowers, herbs, etc.  Do you have a community park like this or something similar where you live?

And the 3rd and last video from last week was more-so about the weather and me blabbing a bit.  Also some deals I found on mangoes and avocados at my local Aldi Store!  I've already used a few of them and have some recipes coming very soon!  What are your favorite things to do with Mangoes and Avocados?

Future Rooftop Garden

4 of us at work are going to try and do a Rooftop Garden this year! 

A co-worker and I went to an Indoor Gardening Class last night thru Jamestown Community College Warren Campus and the Penn State Ag Extension.  It was fun and VERY informative.  Much of the Indoor stuff we probably won't be doing especially when it comes to lighting, etc...but we walked away with many more ideas for the project we have planned!  I'm VERY excited about this actually! 

We will also be trying to re-use and re-purpose old equipment as much as possible - since there is so much of it around our building.

One of the main places we have decided to 'shop' for our seeds is Seed Saver Exchange.  So far...here is what we have planned from this catalog...Bill - one of our part timers was interested in A & C pickling Cucumbers.  My Mother-In-Law who is also our office manger wanted Stupice Tomatoes.  Casey who is one of our Sales People checked off Joe's Long Cayenne, Hot Portugal, Tolli's Sweet Italian, and Georgia Flame Hot Peppers.  Sam - who is our production person would like to do Amish Snap Peas, Green Arrow Peas, and Cherry Roma Tomatoes.  Then there is me...I'm interested in...Dragon Carrots, Watermelon Radishes, Alma Paprika, Mini Chocolate Bell, and Sheepnose Pimento Peppers, as well as Black Cherry, Blondkopechen, Isis Candy Cherry, Lemon Drop, Tasty Evergreen, and Ukrainian Purple Tomatoes.

Karen, Sam, and Casey have had garden's before and I know that Karen and Sam are very good at Gardening.  Casey said he would provide most if not all of the dirt, and Bill will help us out when ever he can, too!

This is just a Pre-Post of sorts to tell you what we are up to but I will be posting more pics very soon!

Wild Things of The Weekend

I'll be having 3 separate posts today and this is the 2nd one so remember to scroll down! 

Last week I told you about my adventure to the JCC Campus and touring their Community Garden.  Well, I found out about another one over at the Conservation Demo Area in North Warren.  They really need to publicize this more because I had NO idea!  Read all about it HERE.  I know right where it is and I want to check it out soon!  This is much bigger than the one in Jamestown.  The spaces are 25X25 and are only $25 per year.

In my last post I was telling you about my travels and adventures of my Produce Hunt.  Well, before I left I got into  my car and directly above my windshield I saw this gorgeous fella!  My husband's Grandmother LOVES Cardinals.  I think I might post it to her Facebook Wall.  I noticed that we have a Cardinal's Nest in a tree on the other side of our house...actually the tree itself is in our neighbor's yard but the branches flow over into our side yard.  That's ok because we have a tree in our yard that flows over into their yard so it's an even trade!

Even though the weekend was WONDERFUL and I enjoyed nice weather, beautiful produce, and wild life - both indoors and out - the kids had a really lazy Sunday! 

Suzie was sprawled out on Hubby's recliner.  She's not that big of a dog but she tends to take up a lot of room!  She was sound asleep half way thru the day!

Paco, however, took more time to calm down and unwind yesterday.  He was back and forth between the Sofa, the Recliner, and the Loveseat!

In this photo I just LOVE the way his legs are laying there!  It's times like these he totally lives up to his name/type of chi - Deer Chihuahua.

But things progressed...in this evening of Paco-Chi...

He became quite tired.  I think he was trying to fight it.  This photo makes me laugh every time I look at it.  It looks like he's smiling but it also looks like he's almost falling asleep sitting up!

This pose didn't last long, tho!  As soon as he heard Riley and I move...he moved...all the way over to the Sofa...

...and under the blanket!  He burrows himself in blankets.  Stereotypical of Chihuahua's from what I have seen and heard.  I still can't get over how cute it is, tho!

In this case - he did his burrowing - but then popped his head out and went face first into the sofa cushion.

There was NO argument when it was time for bed!  The little bugger was POOPED out last night!

In my 3rd post - which will be posting in a couple of hours - I will have LOTS of food posts and photos and recipes!  I hope you will visit back and comment!  You know I LOVE comments!  Did you see any wild life this weekend!?  If so - let me know!

Chiro, Sciatica, FRESH, and Community Gardens

It seems like the days have been flying by and everything has been going pretty crazy lately...hence the reason I haven't been posting much this week!  So sorry about that!  I have so much to blog about that I will be breaking this up into Non-Food and Food.  For this one, NON-FOOD!

I want to thank everyone for the well wishes during my nervousness prior to my very first chiropractor's appointment on Tuesday.  LONG story short on that I now know what has been going on with me!  It's official!  I have Sciatica.  While at my first appointment I was "Cracked" in two spots in my lower back as well as purposely putting immense pressure on the Sciatic Nerve to try and loosen it.  What they think is happening in my cause specifically is flow of fluid in between 2 Vertebra getting 'stuck' or not flowing back after I move which could be causing the nerve to act up.  They told me this is good because at least it isn't a disk problem causing it.  Anyhow...in addition to a few other stretches and exercises I have been doing he now wants me to do the Sphinx Pose (he called it something else but I am familiar with the yoga term!) 6 times a day for at least 2 minutes.  I'm also supposed to force myself to get away from my work computer more throughout the day.  I already knew that but when I get on a roll - I get on a roll and sometimes can't break away!  Anyhow...at least now I know what it is, right!?  Yesterday I went to my 2nd appointment and he moved up my back and cracked me in 4 places as well as my hips on both sides while doing a gentle twist.  Oddly these parts haven't bothered me too much as of yet.  It's the intense nerve work he's doing that takes my breath away!  WOW!

I mentioned a while back that I was going to be tuning in to the Food Revolution Summit online this week and have been listening to a few of the shows as background noise while doing other work.  Sometimes I absorb the info better by doing this.  This week - I think that was certainly the case.  I haven't listened to Russell Simmons YET but want to! 

I signed up for a few more news letters, too!  No...I don't read all of them all of the time but you can never have enough knowledge, eh!?

Last night I carpooled with two other younger ladies to Jamestown Community College in Jamestown, NY, for a tour of their Community Garden and a screening of the documentary FRESH.  As a SUNY JCC Alumni I was excited to be on campus again...it's been since 98 or 99 since I have set foot in any of the buildings.  I found out many of their building are certified GOLD and they continuously work towards a GREENER way of doing things!  This put a smile on my face!  The Community Garden was neat...we really don't have too many of them around here so it was nice to see and learn about them.  I didn't measure them but they looked to be about 10 or 12 by 5 - maybe a little smaller...and there were 12 or 14 of them!  It looked like only one of them had been started for the season but it's good to know that all of them will be underway soon!

After the tour of the Community Garden we walked back to the teleconference center and watched the documentary FRESH.  It was a great film - a few familiar faces from other documentaries I have seen in the last few months - but it was neat to watch it with other people, too!  So far I have only been watching them by myself in the evenings in the comfort of my own home.  It was catered by Planet Earth Catering in Jamestown and they try and use local foods in their business as much as possible.  The did Meatballs - of course I did NOT partake in but I did nibble on a small amount of salad made with greens, wild carrots, a radish, and a dressing made from local Maple Syrup.  They also had regional sparkling water.

I had fun meeting various people and I handed out a few business cards to people as well.  I spoke with some of the Warren County Master Gardeners and they told me about some of their upcoming events including a Kids Day during the Warren County Fair in Pittsfield, PA, in August.

I have lots more to post but will be posting my FOOD attempts later today.  I didn't want this post to be absurdly long...so I am splitting into TWO.

Before I go, tho, I have a Paco Pic for ya!  He's been pretty good lately!  Perhaps it's the weather?  What ever it is - I'm grateful! 

Have you seen FRESH yet?  Do you know if your community has Community Gardens?  Have you been back to an old school of yours after a long time away?  Have you met any interesting people this week?  Which yoga poses are your favorite for back and leg pain?